Entry No.1 _ NguyenThiXuan

Entry No.1 _ NguyenThiXuanEntry 1

Item 1: Fable

The Cicada and the Ant

Cicada, having sung her song
All summer long,
Found herself without a crumb
When winter winds did come.
Not a scrap was there to find
Of fly or earthworm, any kind.
Hungry, she ran off to cry
To neighbor Ant, and specify:
Asking for a loan of grist,
A seed or two so she’d subsist
Just until the coming spring.
She said, “I’ll pay you everything
Before fall, my word as animal,
Interest and principal.”
Well, no hasty lender is the Ant;
It’s her finest virtue by a lot.
“And what did you do when it was hot?”
She then asked this mendicant.
“To all comers, night and day,
I sang. I hope you don’t mind.”
“You sang?” Why, my joy is unconfined.
Now dance the winter away.”

– Irony: satirize people having weak standard of knowledge but still having good jobs.

– Metaphor: the table in the picture looks like a empty box, which implies lack of capability of people. Wooden legs around the table implies supporters.

Message:

A popular negative status in our modern society is that many people having no real competence get good jobs or are assigned to high positions owing to support of relatives. This is unfairness which need solving in the work world.

In our life, sometimes we have to choose between many things (two people, two jobs…). We can not indecisive because time is limited, but we should not be hasty and have to decide in the thoughtful and well-informed way since the way back is not usually possible anymore.